An Archaeological Study Tour
Tunisia
May 21 – June 6, 2012
17 Days
Led by Professor Pedar W. Foss, DePauw University

Tunisia is a land with a rich cultural heritage. From the earliest Phoenician colonists to the arrival of Islam, Tunisia has continually absorbed a diverse succession of “foreign” cultures onto its native Berber population. According to Roman legend, the Phoenicians were the first colonists to arrive in Tunisia, founding the city of Carthage in 814 BCE. Carthage became one of the leading cities in North Africa and soon came into conflict with Rome over control of the western Mediterranean. The two powers fought three wars (the Punic Wars), which ended in the destruction of Carthage and her absorption into the Roman province of Africa. The city of Carthage was refounded as a Roman colony sometime in the late second or early first century BCE. The first Roman emperor, Augustus, rebuilt the city, which quickly regained her lost prestige and power. Carthage grew into one of the most important cities in the Mediterranean, and the Roman province of Africa became a major supplier of food and luxury items to the city of Rome and the empire as a whole. With the Vandalic occupation in 439 CEand the Byzantine reconquest in 533 CE, the stature of Carthage and the province fell considerably. The last major conquest by outside forces came just before 700 CE, when Carthage fell to the Arabs, who moved their center to what is now Tunis, and thus began the era of Islam.

This study tour will visit the major archaeological and historical sites in Tunisia. Comfortably based in Tunis for four days, we will have time to explore the northeastern part of the country, including a full day at the vast site of ancient Carthage. The tour will then head west, where we will spend two nights in an ex-colonial hill resort surrounded by pine and cork forests while we visit the Roman city of Dougga and the unique underground Numidian capital at Bulla Regia. Traveling south, we enter the more remote areas, including the fascinating town of Tataouine and Matmata, unique for its underground houses. We will end our adventure exploring the ancient cities along the coast and Kairouan, an Islamic pilgrimage center renowned for its magnificent Great Mosque and bustling medina.

Monday, Tuesday, May 21 & 22: TUNIS: Independent departures from our home cities on Monday arriving in Tunis on Tuesday. We will be met and transfered to the Tunisia Palace Hotel. Tuesday evening Professor Foss will meet with the group for an orientation lecture and dinner.
Meals: Dinner

Wednesday, May 23: TUNIS: The entire day will be spent at the site of Carthage, where Professor Foss has excavated. Touring begins on the Byrsa Hill with its museum and Punic houses. The day continues with the Tophet (Punic burial ground), the ancient harbors and ship sheds and the Punic fortifications in the “Quartier Magon”. Time permitting, we will also visit the American military cemetery for North Africa, which is just outside the site.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Thursday, May 24: TUNIS: Touring of Carthage continues today with the Roman and Early Christian Museum at Dermech, the Antonine Baths, Roman villas, theater, odeon, amphitheater, the early Christian pilgrimage church at Damous el Karita and the massive cistern complex at La Malga, the terminus of the Zaghouan aqueduct. We then drive to the picturesque 17th-century village of Sidi Bou Said, located on a promontory overlooking Carthage. After lunch, we will visit a small museum dedicated to traditional musical instruments. The afternoon is at leisure to continue our exploration of Sidi Bou Said or Tunis.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Friday, Saturday, May 25 & 26: TUNIS: Friday we will visit the Punic town of Kerkouane and the ancient quarries at El Haouarya. Saturday’s touring begins at the beautiful newly refurbished Bardo Museum, containing the most important antiquities from the entire country. Noteworthy are the spectacular Roman mosaics, Punic stelae and jewelry. In the afternoon we will explore the city’s colorful medina and souks. This evening we will return to the medina for a traditional dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Sunday, May 27: TUNIS: Today we drive south of Tunis to the well-preserved Roman town of Thuburbo Majus. Here we see the forum as well as peristyle houses with well-preserved mosaics. We will continue to Zaghouan with its monumental nymphaeum at the source of the 90-km aqueduct that supplied Carthage with water. We will follow the aqueduct, stopping briefly at the site of Oudna/Uthina on our return to Tunis.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Monday, May 28: AIN DRAHAM: Our destination today is the magnificent hilltop site of Dougga, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Passing through Testour, an Andalusian town, we stop briefly at the Byzantine fortress of Ain Tounga. Dougga flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The glory of Imperial Rome is evoked by its temples, baths, theater, roads and arches. After completing our tour we drive through pine and cork forests to Nour El Ain Hotel in Ain Draham.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Tuesday, May 29: AIN DRAHAM: Today’s tour highlights the Numidians, local tribes allied to (or in conflict with) Carthage and Rome from the 4th - 1st centuries BCE. At Bulla Regia we explore the forum, baths, theater and temples, as well as three underground villas housing beautiful mosaic-tiled floors. At Chemtou we will visit the tombs of the Numidian kings and a superb museum. Nearby are quarries from which the Romans extracted the yellow marble used throughout the Mediterranean.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Wednesday, May 30: GAFSA: Our drive takes us into semi-desert terrain where we visit Makhtar, an imperial outpost with a splendid triumphal arch erected by Trajan, as well as prehistoric dolmen-tombs. We then continue to Sbeitla (Sufetula). Its gleaming triple temple complex overlooks the Roman forum providing a backdrop to one of the largest Roman sites in Tunisia, as well as important early Christian basilicas. Lastly, we inspect a Roman tower-mausoleum at Kasserine (Cilium), which carries the longest poetic epitaph in the Roman world. We will spend the night at the Gafsa Palace Hotel in the oasis of Gafsa.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Thursday, Friday, May 31 & June 1: TATOUINE: After a brief visit to the Roman pools and museum at Gafsa, we drive south via Gabes and stop at Matmata to visit the famous Berber troglodyte houses. In the afternoon, we continue to the ancient city of Gightis, a Punic trading post before becoming an important Roman port. Friday’s touring takes us into the desert, stopping first at Tataouine’s lively market before visiting the fortified granaries and villages in the region, including Ksar Ouled Soltane, one of the best-preserved ksour in Tunisia. Sangho Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch & dinner

Saturday, June 2: SOUSSE: We visit the Dar Jallouli Museum and have lunch in Sfax. We then return to Imperial Rome with our next stop at El Djem (Thysdrus) to view the only remaining evidence of this once prosperous city, the splendid amphitheater, which could hold 30,000 people. Though smaller than the colosseum in Rome, it is in a better state of preservation. We will reach our deluxe hotel, Diar El Andalous, set amid lovely gardens and a sandy beach, in time to relax before dinner.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Sunday, June 3: SOUSSE: A short drive takes us to Kairouan, once the Muslim capital of North Africa and still a repository of Islamic culture. We will visit the 9th-century Sidi Okba Mosque, with its columned prayer room, and the Mosque of the Berber, whose decorative tiling and carved ceilings rival those of the Alhambra. Our visit ends with a stroll through the colorful souks of Kairouan before we return to Sousse.
Meals: Breakfast & lunch

Monday, June 4: TUNIS: The full morning will be at leisure to enjoy the beach and our hotel’s amenities. In the afternoon we will visit the medina and citadel in the old walled city of Sousse as well as the museum, rich in unique mosaics and sculptures. We then return to Tunis and the Tunisia Palace Hotel.
Meals: Breakfast

Tuesday, Wednesday, June 5 & 6: TUNIS: After a full day at leisure, we will have our gala final dinner at Dar Essaraya, a restored traditional house. Wednesday we transfer to the Tunis airport and our flights home.
Meals: Breakfast & dinner

 

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